Autosport has revealed the finalists for the 2017 McLaren Autosport BRDC Award (MABA), a prize given to the most promising young British talent in single-seaters.
As per usual, the four finalists will be put through fitness and simulator tests before a two-day test at Silverstone that will be judged by Derek Warwick, Jason Plato, commentator Ian Titchmarsh as well as Autosport Journalists Kevin Turner and Scott Mitchell.
The winner, announced December 3rd will be given the prize of a McLaren Simulator role in 2018. On top of this, they’ll also get full BRDC Club membership, an Arai crash helmet and a test in a McLaren Formula 1 car following on from 2016 winner Lando Norris, who is now a full member of the McLaren outfit.
Enaam Ahmed
The 17-year-old has enjoyed a stellar year in the BRDC British F3 Championship. Enaam Ahmed picked up 13 wins over the season, one below the overall record and one more than three-times F1 champion Ayrton Senna. He wrapped up the title in the penultimate round in what is only his third season of car-racing.
Prior to 2017, he won the BRDC British F3 Autumn Trophy at the back-end of last year having collected the rookie cup in MSA Formula when he entered single-seaters in 2015. The year earlier he was CIK-FIA World KF-Junior Karting Champion.
Harrison Scott
Harrison Scott will be the only returning face to the MABA, having been a finalist in 2014 after dominating Formula Ford. This year, he’s been racing in EuroFormula Open and like Ahmed has secured the title with a round to spare.
He’s picked up 10 wins over the twelve races so far and came into the year as one of the favourites due to a strong result in Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 last season. The 21-year-old achieved three wins last year in the series having also been runner-up in the BRDC F4 Autumn Trophy in 2014.
Max Fewtrell
Having been overshadowed in 2016 by the success of the British drivers in series above him, Max Fewtrell has fully come into the line light this year after a strong run in Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0. He currently sits sixth in the overall standings, with one win and the lead of the rookie standings.
He followed on from last years MABA winner Norris, by winning the F4 British Championship before leaping into Formula Renault. This season has also seen him become a Renault Sport Academy member and is the second highest ranked Brit behind 2015 MABA winner Will Palmer.
Dan Ticktum
While Dan Ticktum‘s junior career may be forever marred by his 2015 MSA Formula incident, the 18-year-old is determined to make the most of his return and sits narrowly behind Fewtrell in the Eurocup standings. The Arden International driver also has one win and sits second in the rookie standings.
For Ticktum, the award will be a golden opportunity for him to prove to Red Bull that he deserves to stay in their junior program with a potential gap in their conveyor belt should Pierre Gasly be promoted next year. He’s already made a debut in GP3 Series and could be a championship threat in either Eurocup or FIA F3 next season.
